Nintendo Keeps Its Promise, Introduced Two Free-to-Play Titles

Nintendo Keeps Its Promise, Introduced Two Free-to-Play Titles

Remember that rumor about the free-to-play game Nintendo was going to serve up by March? Well, we have some information on that this week. Rather, Nintendo has announced two insanely different free-to-play 3DS games that we will be able to experience. Those games are Steel Diver: Sub Wars and Rusty's Real Deal Baseball.

Here's the details of Steel Diver, right from Nintendo direct (no pun intended).

Steel Diver is a new action-packed submarine combat game from Nintendo that immerses players in the 3D action with unique game controls and lush 3D environments. The player can choose from three different submarines, each with touch-screen control panels that players will have to master to guide them through treacherous undersea caverns while engaging enemy submarines, dodging depth charges and battling massive sea creatures. Steel Diver also takes advantage of the built-in gyroscope of the Nintendo 3DS system. The combination of 3D game play and one-of-a-kind controls makes for an immersive combination that must be experienced to be believed.

The game is essentially like the title says; it's a naval game that has you blowing up enemy submarines in different game modes. Level up and unlock more subs and other features, like crew members who give the player extra stats and abilities. Luckily, micro-transactions are not the key here, with Nintendo opting for a free and premium version instead.

The game has all the features you'd expect from free-to-play titles. The free version will give you two total submarines to choose from, a handful of crew members, limited customizable submarine patterns and two single-player missions. The premium version is also available, which gives you 18 total submarines, 30+ crew members, fully customizable sub patterns and all of the single-player missions. The good news is that both versions feature online and local multiplayer modes and free and premium players can actually play in the same servers, as they are not separated online. The game is available now through the Nintendo eShop.

The second game is Rusty's Real Deal Baseball and is sure to ring up a strike with Nintendo lovers everywhere (total pun intended).

Feel the crack of the bat in a collection of baseball-themed minigames! Then, take a breather and haggle with hilarious ol' Rusty to lower the real-life Nintendo eShop* price of additional batting, pitching, and fielding minigames, plus a whole lot more! Knock it out of the park in a series of baseball-themed minigames that will have you swinging at disappearing fastballs, bringing down UFOs with the help of some rubber tires, or even becoming an umpire and ringing up batters. But before you play ball, you'll have to haggle with that miserable mutt, ex-pro baseball player Rusty Slugger, to lower the actual Nintendo eShop* purchase price of each minigame! Don't worry, you can use weird in-game items like donuts and nose hair trimmers (that's not a typo) to help you get the lowest price possible.

In this game, a dog named Rusty runs a baseball camp that is split into episodes. You play through these episodes which contain different baseball-themed events. Things like hitting home runs, catching balls and the like all grant you special items. As you move through the game, more episodes and games become available through the use of micro-transactions. However, Nintendo has taken an interesting approach to the dreaded micro-transactions that we're used to. Instead of set prices for each in-game item, you can actually haggle with Rusty to lower the prices. The items have their own individual strategy on how to negotiate Rusty down to the lowest possible price.

Adding to the interesting aspect of the game is the fact that you can give rusty some of the items you've acquired during the minigames you've played, which will help lower the price substantially. In essence, your price for the extra items are determined by some skill, your playtime and a little bit of luck. Rusty's Real Deal Baseball will be available some time in April.

I'm currently updating my 3DS so I can download Sub Wars and give it a spin. Are you picking up either of these games? Let us know in the comments section below.